Separated
by AlanahLouise
Summary: Ponyboy has been split up from the gang in the jungles of Vietnam. All rights go to S.E Hinton.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Ponyboy's POV

It was a hot night. The jungle of Vietnam had sure out done itself tonight. Beads of sweat feel down my face and back, I wiped it away every five seconds, just for it to be replaced with new sweat beads.  
It had been a quiet few days, there was no sign of the enemy and I was starting to get anxious. Every sound made me tense and put me on edge, but you had to be on edge here, and you also needed to always keep your guard up because at any moment you could get killed in an ambush..  
But I had to stay alive- For my brothers, and what's left of the gang. But the most messed up thing about this situation is that they were all on the other side of Vietnam, together, while I was stuck here by myself. I did have my troop of course, but they weren't my brothers, and my brothers is what I needed right now.

_The day of when I got my notice crosses my mind; it was a few days after my 17th Birthday. It was around the month when the government got desperate and started shipping off 16 year olds. Darry had assured me that I would get out of it because of my grades and potential. But it had seemed they had shipped off every Greaser in Tulsa Oklahoma that was of age, tearing apart more families. Soda's notice came a few days after mine, and then Darry's followed. Normally Darry wouldn't have gotten one because he was my only legal guardian, but because I was shipped off, it put him in the headlights also. Like wildfire, Steve and Two-bit soon got theirs too._  
_ Two weeks later we all filed into the bus with our hair cut and in full uniform and headed for boot-camp where we trained for 8 weeks, learning combat and gun skills. By the end of the 8 weeks we were surprised our limbs still worked, because let me tell you, waking up at 6am and training till 8:30pm didn't make you feel too hot by the end of it._

The day that we were told what troop we would be in we were all convinced we'd be in the same troop, which was partly true, they were all together, and I being the unluckiest was separated from them, and there was nothing that any of us could do about it.  
"Ay Curtis, we're going to be moving camp in an hour, get ready, pack your stuff and we'll be out of here before sunset."  
"Yes sir." I replied. My troop leader Marcus gave me a strange look and moved onto the next tent. Wiping tears from my eyes, I got up and packed the little stuff I had brought over here and placed it in my duffel-bag.  
"Ponyboy, it'll be alright man, maybe we'll pass your brothers along the way." Jumping, startled, I look around to see my buddy Eric giving me a sympathetic smile, he always knew when I was thinking about my brothers...partly because I cried when I did, but Eric could read people real easily, he was something else, and out of all the men in the troop, I hoped that he was lucky enough to get out of this alive, for his daughters sake also.  
Quickly regaining myself I replied with a simple,  
"Yeah, maybe."  
I knew by the look he gave that he Knew I didn't believe it would happen, in fact I thought I'd never see my brothers again... But I didn't believe me...Deep down, I knew I would. Hell, I'd tear down Vietnam just to find them.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders, all rights go to S.E Hinton.  
_**_**A/N- 2nd chapter done. :) It is a short one like the first chapter, but it's longer :D**_

Chapter two

Ponyboy's POV

Man were my feet starting to hurt. We were only three hours into our nine hour trek and already half the men in my troop were exhausted- including me. The only person who seemed slightly cheery was Eric, who was whistling Elvis's songs.  
"Shut-up Eric." I laughed as he smacked me over the head.  
"Lighten up Curtis. It ain't everyday you get to take a long nice walk in a foreign country." The shit-eating grin he gave me made me laugh.  
How the guy managed to even pretend to be happy in a place like this was beyond me.  
"Are you guys trying to get the enemy onto us or something? Hush up." Marcus, always the party pooper. I heard Eric chuckle beside me and gave a little chuckle myself, abruptly stopping. I shouldn't be laughing- not in this hell-hole anyway. I'd rather feel depressed. This place doesn't deserve happiness or laughter, not with all the pain it's caused people to feel.  
"Y'all are crazy." Billy quietly said. He was the youngest in the troop at the age of 16 and he rarely ever spoke. He reminded me of Johnny a little; he just didn't get beaten up by his dad and neglected by his mother for breathing their air. He and Johnny spoke the same too, very western.  
"I think we're all crazy kid." Eric replied. Even though Eric and I were only a year older then Billy, we called him kid, and let me tell you- he hated it.  
"I ain't a kid." He sulked.  
"Sure you are, kid." I replied, grinning when he gave me a dirty look.  
After that I decided to take Marcus' advice and shut-up. Boy was this going to be a long six hours.

* * *

Three hours had passed and we hadn't had any encounters yet, which was really strange. Normally we'd find at least 6 strays or get attacked by another troop. Maybe we were having a lucky streak- Or maybe we'd stumbled into the safe zone, but I doubted it.  
Then, as if they'd read my mind, I saw a figure approaching to my left.  
"Get down!" I yelled. We all fell to the ground as guns started going off.  
"I'll check to see how many people there are." I called over to Marcus, and receiving a nod in response. Slowly rising my head, I saw around 6 Vietnamese ducking behind trees and shooting at us every so often. I quickly ducked, just missing a bullet that whizzed past my head.  
"There're 6 of 'em Marcus." I yelled over the chaos.  
"Good, that means we out-number them by 5." Marcus liked having the upper-hand.  
We all get our loaded guns and start firing in the enemy's direction, my first shot instantly hitting someone, he fell to the ground unmoving and my stomach churned.  
In a matter of one minute they were all on the ground dead or close to death. The guilt started to build up inside of me. I felt light-headed and queasy, but we had to move on...So I pushed my guilt to the side. I can feel guilty when we reach our new camp.  
"Is anyone hit?" Marcus asked us all and received 11 'no's'.  
"Thank God." He mumbled quietly.  
I guess I jinxed us by the thought of having a lucky streak today.

* * *

"Okay, we're here men. Set up camp and take a break."  
We all sighed in relief. This is the best news that we had received all day.  
Quickly setting up my tent and unpacking my duffel-bag, I remembered the letter from Soda and Darry unopened in my pocket. I took it out and read it, my stomach churning. Was I going to get bad news?  
_Dear Pony,  
I hope you're doing alright. Our troop was ambushed a couple nights ago, don't worry, we're all okay, but a guy named Steven was shot and didn't survive. Be safe Ponyboy_, _we will find you_ _eventually, so keep a low profile. Two-bit and Steve say hey. Love you kiddo.  
-Sodapop and Darry Curtis.  
_I smiled, looking down at Darry's hand-writing. Then sadness washed over me. I was too not have my brothers here with me.  
I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and wrote back.  
_Dear Soda, Darry, Two-bit and Steve,  
I'm alright. It's good to hear that you're all okay, I've been worried. Very unfortunate for Steven though, I hope he didn't have kids. My troop just moved camp and we were attacked on the way, no one was injured or killed. I killed someone though, and I feel guilty as hell. Yeah, yeah I know. It isn't my fault...but still. I hope I see you guys soon, I miss you. Love you all.  
-Ponyboy Curtis.  
_I put the letter in an envelope an addressed it to Sodapop and Darrel Curtis, troop 11467.  
I walked over to Marcus' tent and let myself in.  
"Hey Marcus, I need this posted." He took the letter from me and set it with the others.  
"Alright Curtis. Get some sleep, we're waking early tomorrow. There's a POW camp on the other side of the river and there's people who need savin'."  
"Yes sir." Wow that sounded complex. So much for keeping a low profile.

_**A/N- Well if you're still there, thanks for reading!  
**__**Eric, Marcus, Billy and Steven are my characters. And for those who are unsure of what POW stands for, it means 'Prisoner Of War'. They were camps where they took hostages/prisoners, and killed/tortured information out of people. :/  
**__**Please review**,** I'd love opinions..anything. :)**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer- All rights go to S. E Hinton :)  
**__**A/N- I'm no good with fluffy writing, hahaha**_

Chapter three

Ponyboy's POV

I went to bed as soon as I got to my tent.

But like every night, I couldn't sleep. The nightmares I had before I came to Vietnam were pretty bad, but now they're overwhelming.

Every time I did sleep, it would always be a similar dream- Watching one of my brother's die, or me watching myself die. And every time I had a dream like this, I'd wake up sweating and scared, wishing for Soda's comfort but Soda wasn't here to give me comfort, and there was no way that I'd ask Eric... How embarrassing.

And at that moment, like I had actually summoned him, Eric waltzed into my tent, uninvited, grinning from ear to ear.

"Can't sleep either Curtis, eh?" He asked, way too loudly.

"Obviously not, Warren." I replied. Eric laughed.

"Smartass, now I know why Steve didn't like you. Your mouth is bigger then ya head." I chuckled; he was right about the smartass part.

"Yeah, alright smartie. Hey, have you gotten a letter from home recently?"

"Mhm, I got one a few days ago with a picture of Taylor." The smile that crossed his face when he mentioned his daughter was the best thing I'd seen in months- Besides the letters I got from Darry and Soda.

Reaching into his pocket, Eric pulled out a letter with a picture sticky-taped to the back of it and passed it to me.

The first thing I noticed was the crazy red curly hair and then the china-blue eyes. The only feature she shared with her dad was the pale skin. I held the picture up to Eric's face to try and get another feature. Eric had light brown hair and eyes that matched, and abnormally straight teeth.

"Are you sure she's yours?" I chuckled, looking over at Eric.

"Yep, I'm sure. She takes after Amanda." Eric smiled at the in my hand, pride clear on his face.

"I can't believe you were 16 man. I wouldn't know how to look after a dog, let alone a one year old baby." I didn't mention that Darry would of killed me if I had, had a kid at 16.

"You get used to it after a while. I just hope I get the hell outta here. She needs a dad." I didn't miss the flicker of anger that crossed his face.

"I got your back man, you'll get back to her." I said confidently. I knew then that I'd get Eric home, even if it killed me in the process.

Eric gave me a genuine smile, "I got your back too, Curtis."

I handed back the picture and he put it back in his pocket carefully, trying not to damage it.

"So, do you have a picture of your brothers? You've told me pretty much everything about them, so it's a little ironic how I've never seen a picture."

I grinned and reached into my duffel-bag, retrieving a picture of my brothers and I.

"It was taken a few days before we left for 'Nam." He examined the picture and grinned.

"You never told me you were a twin." I looked at him, confusion evident on my face.

"I'm not?"

He turned the picture around and pointed at Soda, his eyebrow raised. Laughing I said,

"Soda is three years older than me. He turned 20 a few months ago in October." My face dropped. I looked away so Eric wouldn't see, but like always- he did.

"Ay, what's the matter?" He asked, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"It's nothing, really. I just realized that in a few more days it'll be 7 months since I last saw them."

I took the picture from Eric and examined it myself. I remember Darry saying how much Soda and I looked alike- I didn't see it, and I still don't. Man did I miss them.

Sighing, I placed the picture back in my bag and looked up at Eric, who had remained silent. After a few more minutes of silence, he grinned at me.

"We'll find 'em. They can't be that far away." I chuckled at the stupidity of what he just said.

"Yeah, because Vietnam isn't that big or anything."

"Don't get mouthy with me Curtis." He smiled and walked towards the tents exit, "Cya in the morning, and try to get some rest. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Night Eric." And with that, Eric walked out, zipping up the tent behind him.

_**A/N- POW camp chapter will be up next. I was on a mini holiday and didn't want to write a long action one in the car :D  
**__**Review? ;) **_


	4. AN 1

_**A/N-Sorry, sorry SORRY I haven't posted lately! School started, as most Australian's on here would know AND, in the last week of the holidays, my internet decided to not work at home on my laptop...It only works at school, so I'm posting this in my science class right now.  
Chapter 4 should be up sometimes this week or next week! Whenever I use my laptop in class next **___


	5. Chapter 4

**_A/N- Sorry this took forever! ...But to make it up to you I made it A LOT longer then the other chapters :) Thankyou for the reviews, favourites and follows! :) And I am also aware that I spelt 'Soldier' wrong all throughout this chapter :')_**

**_Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders unfortunately, all rights go to that lovely S.E Hinton_**

Chapter four

Pony's POV

As promised, we were all up at the crack of dawn listening to Marcus give orders of where we had to be and when we had to be there.

"Curtis. Eric, Billy and yourself will sneak into the heart of the camp. Get as many as you can out. If I feel you have been in there to long, us men around the camp will cause a distraction to give you enough time to get out. Got that?"

"Yes sir."

"And please. Try not to get killed," Marcus pulled me closer to him and whispered, "because you're my three best men in this damn troop and not having you around would be a pain in my ass." He pulled away and smirked.

"Yes sir." I chuckled.

"Why do those three get all the work?" I turned to the direction of the voice and saw Ralph sneering at me.

Boy was he a nasty piece of work. He was a real hood, and the only one that liked being here. In fact, he was the only one in this troop that signed himself up to come here.

"Because Ralphy...They're the only ones in this troop that use their heads in difficult situations. We cannot act out to aggressively with this mission. Stay calm and stick to the shadows, ya hear?"

Satisfied with the chorus of agreement that he got, he went back to describing the plan to all of us a few more times.

* * *

"Damn it Eric, you're really heavy."

"C'mon Curtis, put some muscle into it! How hard can lifting me over a fence be?"

"Ain't my fault you weigh a ton. Ever considered going on a diet?"

"Naw, I like food too much." He grinned down at me, I glared back.

"Will you two quit messing around?"

Eric and I fell silent, smirking.

A minute or two later, Eric was finally over the fence, landing on the ground with a satisfying thump.

"Omph! Crap that hurt." Eric complained.

"Maybe you should land on your feet next time and it won't hurt as much." I replied.

"Yeah, whatever. I'd like to see you get over without hurting yourself."

I cocked an eyebrow and grinned. After taking three large steps back, I ran towards the fence, swiftly leaping over it then landing on my feet. I looked over at Eric and smirked.

"Show off." He muttered. I grinned.

"Alright, let's go. Eric you follow from behind and I'll lead. Billy, look out for anyone and if they come at us, don't hesitate to shoot."

We slowly made our way into the center of the camp without being spotted by guards.

"These guards aren't the brightest. I have seriously knocked five bins over." Eric chuckled; I glanced over at him smirking.

"Guys, we are in the middle of a camp were people are getting tortured and slaughtered and you're laughing and making jokes? Seriously...Shut up." Billy's little speech sent both of us into hysterics.

"Lighten up buddy."

"Lighten up? We're in the middle of a God damn war." Billy's voice raised with every word he said.

"Shh!" I hushed him, "Do you want to get them on our backs?" Billy sighed and muttered insults at us about being hypocrites which made Eric grin.

"Which hall did Marcus want us looking in?" Eric asked, finally being serious.

"The largest one. But there isn't enough of us so we'll go look in the smallest one, bust some of them out and get the ones that aren't hurt badly to help us with the larger one."

"But none of them will have weapons." Billy muttered. I sighed.

"Good point. Okay, we'll get them out of the camp, and then get Ralph and his lot to help with the larger one."

I didn't like the idea of Ralph helping us but I knew we needed him.

"Good plan. How are we going to get into the hall?"

"There is a side door just there where the guard is standing. Eric and I'll lure him over to us and Billy, you'll creep up behind him and knock him out."

"Why don't I just shoot him?"

"That'll get the other guards' attention." I replied.

"Good point. Okay, go on."

Eric and I crept towards the large bins. Picking up a cardboard box I threw it in the guard's line of sight, immediately getting his attention. He started walking towards our hiding spot and caught sight of Eric. And in a flash, the guard pulled out a switchblade a threw it in Eric's direction, just missing his head. We both ducked.

"Omph!"

We looked up from our hiding spot and saw Billy standing next to the now unconscious soilder.

"Nice hit kid." I said. He grinned.

"Man that was a close call." Eric said, pale and a little shaken up.

"I'll say, you okay Eric?" I asked.

"Just peachy. Let's just get hurry and get some people out. I wanna get outta here.

I nodded my agreement, debating on whether I should call for help.

"Should I get Ralph and his lot? We sorta need the help. Marcus was stupid only sending us in here."

Eric looked at me with an 'Are you crazy?' expression and said,

"Why? We always do good every other time without anyone's help, and Ralph will never let us forget that we couldn't do it ourselves."

"Yeah, I know, but this camp is a lot bigger than all the other ones." I argued.

"We'll ask for their help when we need it Ponyboy." Billy piped in. I sighed and gave up.

"Fine. But first sight of trouble and I'm getting help."

They both nodded in agreement.

The three of us dragged the Vietnamese soilder behind the bins and covered him with boxes and anything else we could see. When he was fully covered, Eric, Billy and I made our way to the side door quietly.

"I'll go first?" I offered. They both nodded.

* * *

We had made it through most of the hall undetected, but because of its size we were having trouble with finding the actual prison part.

"This is getting ridiculous." Eric muttered.

"Should we split up?" Billy asked.

"No, there isn't enough of us." I replied.

"I really hate admitting this, but we shoulda gotten Ralph's help." Billy said. At that, I generally would have said 'I told you so' but getting mouthy right now wouldn't really help anyone except myself.

"Let's just keep looking." I said instead.

We kept on moving down the dark murky passage- it was like a maze in here. I was pretty sure we were underground too, the floor and walls were made of dirt and it was freezing.

"Sh, I hear voices." Billy whispered.

We stopped walking and became deadly silent, and sure enough, up ahead were two Vietnamese soilders.

We ducked behind another wall, hoping they hadn't seen us. I doubted they had, it was nearly pitch black

We waited until they were completely out of sight.

"Let's go." I whispered.

"H...hello?"

The three of us froze for a second, and then we were all looking around frantically to find the source of the voice.

"Hello?" It said again, "Help me? Please?"

Australian. That accent was Australian.

"Where are ya?" I whispered.

"Down here. Down by the floor." He replied.

I turned on my flashlight and spotted a tiny hole by the ground, bars in front of it. I then noticed the boy, possibly my age grimacing away from the light.

"Hold this!" I passed the flashlight over to Eric.

I pulled on the bars and they instantly fell apart.

"That was easy. Why haven't you tried to escape?" I asked the nameless soilder.

"I'm too weak against all the soilders in here, they'd kill me straight away. Do you have water?"

I handed him my canteen, but he couldn't hold it, he was shaking too violently.

"Here..." I held the canteen to his lips and he downed the whole thing in seconds.

"Cheers mate." He huffed.

I helped him to his feet.

"Do you think you can walk?" I asked.

He walked forward a few steps without falling.

"Yeah, I'll be okay." He said. I sighed, I knew he'd have trouble.

"Maybe we should take you out to the troop?"

"No! I have a friend being held prisoner down here somewhere. I'm not leaving without him."

Okay, do you know the way to the prison part? We've been looking for ages and we haven't found anything."

Yeah, I know the way. The ones in this passage are empty, I was by myself. My name is Jim by the way."

"Ponyboy, that's Eric and Billy." I replied. Pointing at them when I said their names.

"Ponyboy huh? That's interesting." He muttered. I ignored him.

* * *

"Almost there." Jim said.

We all sighed in relief, we had come so close to getting caught almost 50 times in the last 10 minutes and I thanked God that it was so dark down here: The darkness meant more places to hide.

Turning a corner we came across a long dirty passage, huge wooden doors lined it. Rats and mice scurried along the floor with little pieces grains in their mouths. It was real filthy.

"This is it." Jim whispered.

I grimaced at the fact that people- Our people- were living in these conditions, and I thought living out in the jungle was bad.

"Check before you open any of the doors, okay. If you hear a foreign language, don't go in, we'll go back for those ones afterwards." I explained.

"Kay boss." Eric replied.

I gave the thumbs up and we all walked to our own door. Jim walked a little more down the passage, so I guessed that his friend might have been in one of those.

Pressing my ear up against the door I had chosen I listened intently on the noises on the other side. I heard a muffled cry, but it didn't sound like anyone else was in there with him.

I tugged against the padlock and it fell apart instantly like the bars to Jim's cell. I opened the door and cautiously looked around the cell.

My eyes fell on the American soilder flinching away from me in the back corner of the small space.

I stepped in slowly so I didn't startle him.

American prisoner POV (Doug)

The padlock to my cell was taken off and my stomach dropped.

_Please, please, please leave me alone. _ I begged silently.

I didn't know whether I could take anymore torture or beatings. I'd been in here for only a few days and already I felt like crap. I just wished they'd kill me and get it over with.

The enemy stepped into my cell and my eyes shut closed as I backed up against the wall, trying to blend into the wall.

_Maybe he won't see me._

But of course he could. His footsteps came closer my way and I braced myself for a beating.

"Hey buddy, it's alright, I won't hurt you." His voice was gentle- and American. I shook my head, I must be imagining it.

A hand was placed on my shoulder and I flinched away from it, shuddering.

"Sorry." He muttered, quickly pulling his hand away.

I slowly opened my eyes and found myself staring into greeny-grey ones. I looked the young man up and down. He had auburn hair and sun tanned skin, he looked oddly familiar but I was sure that I had never seen him before in my life. He didn't belong here but he had a tough look in his eyes that made me doubt myself for a second. He wasn't more then 17-18 years old.

"You're saving me right?" The question slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it and I braced myself for a slap to the face ore something along those lines.

Instead, the tough look in his eyes was soon replaced by one of humour and he chuckled.

"Well, that depends. Do ya wanna be saved or do ya wanna stay down 'ere?"

"Saved." I replied with a smile. I tried to stand up.

He helped me to my feet, holding onto my elbow to keep me steady.

"Think you can walk?" He asked. I nodded.

"I've only been down here a few days. Me and another guy from my troop were ordered to get drinking water from the spring nearby. Unfortunately Vietnamese soilders need drinking water too." He chuckled.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Douglas, but Doug for short. What's yours?"

"Ponyboy, but you can call me Pony- for short." He grinned. "What's your troop number?"

"Ponyboy? Really? Hah, what's with the strange names over here?"

"What do you mean? Have you met another Ponyboy?" He grinned.

"Nah, you're the only one. 11467 is my troop number by the way."

A look came across his face.

"11467?" He asked.

"Yeah, why?" His eyes lit up.

"Darrel and Sodapop Curtis! Do you know them?"

"Yeah! God, are you the brother they always talk about? I thought you looked familiar, you look like Sodapop." He smiled, and his eyes lit up even more.

"C'mon, I gotta go get a few more people." Ponyboy said. I nodded and limped out the door after him.

Ponyboy walked over to the door opposite my cell and yanked on the padlock, it fell apart. I looked at it in awe. Why hadn't I tried to escape? Ponyboy saw the look on my face and grinned.

"They're all real dodgy." He said.

He leaned his head into the door and listened. Satisfied, he slowly opened the door and looked around the cell. It must of been clear because he stepped inside, me trailing behind him.

I looked at the man on the ground and knew who he was instantly. I was about to say his name to see if he was okay but Ponyboy bet me too it.

"...Steve?"

**_A/N- Cliffy! :D Sorry not sorry :3 Thankyou for reading! :)_**


	6. Chapter 5

_**A/N- Sorry I take so long to update! Me+Updating=Terrible. Anyway. I really hope this chapter doesn't offend anyone, If so, it's unintentional! I am very much against racism and I support gay rights, but it's just how things were back then unfortunately! :(**_

_**Disclaimer- I don't own The Outsiders! Ms S E Hinton does, and that's what makes it so special!**_

Chapter five

Steve's POV

I heard someone at my cell door and braced myself for more interrogations.

Unfortunately for them...I wasn't a traitor, and they could torture me all they want, I still wouldn't give them information.

I plastered a loathing scowl on my face and eyes the door coolly- If looks could kill, they'd be dead 100 times.

The door to my cell swung open and two dark silhouettes walked in. I glared at them.

"Steve?" The glare was wiped off my face the second I heard him speak.

Ponyboy Michael Curtis.

Holy shit! I blinked a few times. Maybe I was imagining him being here?

"Pony?" My voice sounded unsure.

"Yeah, It's me buddy."

A second later I was on my feet with my arms wrapped around Pony tightly, he hugged me back just as tight.

"I missed you too." He chuckled.

I didn't want to admit it, but I had missed the kid an awful lot. It wasn't the same without his smartass comments and 'I love everything' attitude.

I looked him over and was happy to see that he wasn't hurt in any way.

"How ya been, Curtis?"

"I've been better," He grinned "How 'bout you?"

"Oh, great. I'll tell ya, this place is like is like a damn vacation." I said sarcastically.

He looked at my sympathetically.

"You hurt?" He asked.

"Just my pride, bud." I said grinning, trying to lighten up the mood. It worked, he chuckled.

"I can't imagine." He smiled. "C'mon, let's go. I have to get a few more out."

I followed him out of the cell along with Doug. I hadn't realized Doug was here until he clapped me on the back, scaring the crap out of me.

* * *

Ponyboy had got at least 25 soldiers out in the past 20 minutes, that was more then what the rest of us had done.

"I wonder why we haven't come across any Vietnamese soldiers yet." A kid named Billy said. Man, he was uptight.

"Be greatful we haven't, kid." I replied, earning a glare back in return.

"Steve's right," Good ol' Ponyboy! "I have one more cell left and then we'll go."

I nodded and followed behind him.

He yanked on the lock and pushed the cell door open.

The boy was curled up on the ground, shaking. Pony walked over to him a kneeled down.

"Hey." Pony put a hand on the soldiers shoulder, but he gasped and shied away from Pony's hand.

Pony looked up at me and said.

"He's dark-skinned. He's probably got the worst of it."

I nodded my agreement, knowing very well what black people had to go through at home, let alone here.

"C'mon." Pony tried again, his voice gentle. "I won't hurt you."

The soldier shook his head whimpering. Pony sighed.

"We have to go before someone spots up." Pony said patiently.

"Why would you help me? I'm black." The soldier whispered so low that I almost missed it.

"I wouldn't care if you had three heads and six eyes, I'd still help you." Pony replied.

That was something I most admired about Ponyboy. He didn't care about your skin colour, or whether you were gay, in his eyes, everyone was equal.

Even Soda felt uncomfortable around black and gays, and he was the most understanding person in the world.

If it was anyone else but Pont who had found this soldier, they would have left him here, cussing him out or spiting at him.

"Please, we need to go and I'm not leaving 'till you come."

The soldier looked up at him, still unsure. Pony gave him a reassuring smile and offered him his hand.

Hesitantly, he grabbed it and Pony lifted him to his feet.

"What's your name?" Pony asked.

"Shane, what's yours?" He whispered, still a bit unsure.

"I'm Ponyboy, but you can all me Pony if you want, and that over there is Steve." Pony replied, pointing at me. I gave him a curt nod.

"How old are ya?" I asked.

"16, I'll be 17 next week though, I think." Pony smiled sweetly.

"I'm 17 and Steve is 20." I smiled, Pony was real nice to the kid.

"C'mon, let's get back to the others." I said.

"O-others?" Shane stuttered.

"Don't worry, there's only 5 or so, the rest of them are already on their way out of here." Pony said quickly, trying to calm him down.

"Okay." He replied

Pint, Shane and I all walked out of the cell and towards the others boys down the passage that were waiting on us.

"Eric left. One of the boys started panicking so he took him out." Billy said.

"I hope he had his gun." Pony replied. Billy nodded.

"Why'd you rescue that piece of dirt?" I looked over and saw the hot-tempered boy I had rescued sneering at Shane.

Pony tensed beside me, his face turning red with anger.

"You better watch your mouth or I'll lock you in one of the cells and leave you here, you dig?"

I stared at Pony in awe, he rarely lost his temper but when he did, you'd better hope you weren't that made him.

The hot-tempered boy grumbled under his breath but shut-up. Shane looked like he wanted to dig a rather large hole and bury himself in it.

"Okay, let's go." Pont said.

* * *

Pony's POV

The walk out of the hall was shorter than the one going in, and there was still no sign of a Vietnamese soldier.

As we walked out into the fresh air, Shane clung onto my arm like a snake holding its prey.

"What's the matter?" I whispered.

"It's not dark out here, it'll be easier for them to spot us and then they'll lock us up. I don't want to be locked up again!" Shane's eyes were wet with tears, he was clearly losing it.

"We'll keep you safe." I smiled reassuringly.

"I won't." Came Eugene's reply.

"Like I said in there, you better keep ya trap shut or I'll shut it for you." I said angrily.

I really didn't like him. He reminded me of old Steve. The Steve that thought of me as a tag-along kid, Steve grew up though, and I was certain that if Eugene didn't soon, I'd break his nose.

"But he's black!" He shouted.

"Yeah, and your eye will be to if you don't stop being an inconsiderate dick."

I never really got sassy like that unless I was joking around with Two-bit.

Looking over at Steve, I saw that he was proud. He caught me looking and grinned.

"I can't believe you support that filth!" He said.

I felt my face get hot, what he had just said was too far. I turned to face him and belted him so hard he staggered back, causing him to topple over and fall on the ground.

"Asshole." He said.

"You deserved it." I replied. I heard Steve chuckle behind me.

"Don't mess with the kid, kid." Steve said, smirking.

Eugene glared at both of us but didn't say anything else.

"Ponyboy!" My name was shouted from behind us.

I turned around to see Eric running towards us, a grin on his face.

"Shh! Someone will hear you!" I shushed him.

"Nuh uh! Ralph took it upon himself to make a scene out here while we were in there. All the Vietnamese soldiers are either dead, been captured or have ran off."

"And yet, you're cheerful, enlighten me." I replied.

Well yeah, it makes it a hell of a lot easier for us."

I shrugged. I still didn't like the idea of killing people, it just wasn't me.

"C'mon, everyone's waiting for you."

We followed Eric to the rest of them. At least 60 soldiers were there.

I looked around, trying to find the rest of my troop.

"Where's Marcus, Ralph?" I asked Eric.

"They all went into the bigger hall, he said there is going to be a least 100 more soldiers coming out. A few ran back to camp to inform someone that we have rescued them, they said that most of them will get picked up later on tonight and early tomorrow morning." Eric explained.

I nodded, a little sad. That meant I only had a few hours with Steve and then he'd have to leave.

Steve seemed to sense my disappointment and rested a hand on my shoulder.

"Maybe I could try and stay with ya?" He said, hopeful.

"Why'd you do that when you have Soda, Darry and Two-bit in your troop?" I replied, really jealous.

"Because a week before I got captured, Soda said that he wished at least one of us was with you, to keep you safe." He said.

"I can take care of myself." I said, blushing beet red.

"Oh, I know you can kid. But what's wrong with a little backup huh?" He grinned.

I grinned back. I wanted Steve to stay, and I'd try my damned hardest to make that happen.

"Okay." I said, smiling.

_**A/N- I hope you enjoyed it! :) Sorry it's short! I'll try and make the next chapter longer for y'all :)  
**__**Also, Thankyou so much for the Reviews/Follows/Favourites! They mean a lot, and I do read all of them. If anyone has any requests for chapter 6, I'm all ears! Might do a Soda/Darry/Two-bit POV :)  
**__**~Stay Gold you lovely people! :)**_


	7. Chapter 6

_**A/N- Here's chapter 6 guys! YAY! Sorry it took so long. It was supposed to be posted on The Outsiders 30**__**th**__** anniversary, but my luck sucks, and the internet went all dfvvbdhvj for that whole week. I realized that I spelt 'Pony' wrong almost EVERY time last chapter, so sorry about that :-s  
Enjoy!  
Disclaimer- I don't own The Outsiders, S E Hinton does. And Always will ;) I only own a few of my characters. **_

Chapter six

Darry's POV

"Where in the almighty universe is Steve?" Soda asked for the millionth time today.

He was pacing back and forth across the tent, making me dizzy.

"Quit pacing Soda, or I'll nail you to the ground. It's Steve, he'll be fine." I didn't mean to snap at him, but I was worried about Steve too.

Soda sighed and sat down on the ground beside his duffel-bag. He instantly stood up, unable to sit still for more than a second.

"I'm going to go see if we have any letters." He muttered, walking out of the tent.

"Be careful!" I shouted out to him.

"I'm worried about Steve." Two-bit said, making me jump slightly.

"I know, I am too, it wouldn't have taken him this long to go get water knowing we're here worrying about him."

"Yeah, d'you think he's okay? Maybe he just got lost or something?" Two-bit said hopefully.

I smiled at him, but I knew he was wrong. Three days is a long time to be gone for someone who was just getting water from a creek one hour away from camp.

"He'll be fine." I said, trying to calm us both down.

"Yeah, I guess. He's Steve." Two-bit chuckled humourlessly.

I sighed.

"I hope we get a letter from Pone. It's driving me crazy, him not being close to me. I mean, I'm his guardian for a reason. I'm supposed to protect him, how am I supposed to do that when he's not with me?" I ranted, completely changing the subject.

Two-bit just listened. It was hard for him to; Pony was his brother as much as Soda and I.

"He's a strong kid," he said after a minute of silence, "He'll make it through this. That kid has nine lives." He chuckled.

I grinned, it was true. Pony really did have nine lives. He'd make it through anything- even this damn war.

Soda's POV

"Be careful!" Darry shouted out to me.

I nodded, and then realized he probably couldn't see me, but I moved on anyway.

Our troop leader's tent was fairly close to ours, and I got there within 30 seconds.

I unzipped his tent and walked in, not bothering to ask first.

"Mr Curtis, what can I do for you?" He asked in a bored voice.

I glared at the man. He was short and chubby, maybe in his late 50's. I didn't like him, he was an asshole.

"Do I have any letters, sir?" I asked as politely as I could.

He rummaged through stacks of papers on his desk. He stopped and held up a letter.

He handed it to me and I sighed with relief when I saw Pony's neat handwriting scrawled on the envelope.

"Thanks." I said, walking out without another word.

I speed walked back to my tent.

"Darry!" I said ecstatically.

"Letter from Pony?" He asked, hopping up from his cot.

"Yeah." I ripped open the envelope eagerly.

_Dear Soda, Darry, Two-bit and Steve,  
I'm alright. It's good to hear that you're all okay, I've been worried. Very unfortunate for Steven though, I hope he didn't have kids. My troop just moved camp and we were attacked on the way, no one was injured or killed. I killed someone though, and I feel guilty as hell. Yeah, yeah I know. It isn't my fault...but still. I hope I see you guys soon, I miss you. Love you all.  
-Ponyboy Curtis.  
_I read the letter out loud.

Two-bit sighed. "He shouldn't feel guilty for nothin', it's not his fault the government are assholes."

Darry nodded his head in agreement.

"We should write back now, tell him that Steve is MIA." I said bitterly.

"Steve's fine Pepsi-cola, have a little faith in him." Darry said soothingly.

I muttered curse words under my breath but nodded to make him happy.

Darry shoved past me and walked over to his duffel-bag, taking out paper and a pen.

"You wanna write it this time?" He asked, holding the pen and paper out to me. I nodded and took it from him.

_Dear Ponyboy,  
Please don't feel guilty about anything, it ain't your fault little buddy. I have some bad news, Steve is missing, he didn't come back from collecting water. I really hope he's okay, maybe he's just lost or something. Anyway, be safe Pone. Darry, Two-bit and I love and miss you. See ya soon honey.  
-Sodapop Curtis._

I handed the letter to Darry so he could read it. He smiled and nodded in approval.

"I'll go get an envelope." He muttered, walking out of the tent.

"Steve ain't okay, Two. I can feel it. I know that sounds crazy but he's in trouble."

The look on Two-bit's face told me he believed me, not that he wanted to admit it.

I sighed and flopped down onto my cot.

"Let's hope for a miracle." I muttered to myself.

"It's late, get some sleep Soda." Two-bit said.

Normally I would have protested, but I was unconscious as soon as I closed my eyes.

YYYYYYYYYYY X

I woke up in cold sweat, shaking like a leaf.

I walked outside to see if there was any danger. Satisfied that everything was okay, I walked back in.

"Soda?" I jumped a little at Darry's voice, "You okay, little buddy?" He asked, groggily.

I nodded and walked over to his cot.

"Can I stay here?" I asked, gesturing to the empty side of his cot.

"Sure you can." He said, patting the spot next to him.

"Thanks Darry." I smiled, lying down next to him.

I moved in closer and he put his arm around me. It was comforting.

"I remember when this was Pony and I." I whispered, a sad smile on my face.

"We'll see him soon." Darry said reassuringly.

"Yeah I know," I sighed, "I just miss him."

"I know, so do I. Who knows? Maybe we'll come across him soon?"

I chuckled.

"Yeah, that'd be great."

"Ay, shut up. I'm tryna sleep over 'ere." Two-bit said, almost incoherently.

"Suck it up, princess." I joked.

"Whatever, Curtis." He said, sitting up and looking at me. "Awh! Well ain't that just the cutest thing you've ever seen!" He said cheekily.

"Better shut it, or I'll drop you on your head. Not that it would make a difference." Darry said sassily.

"Woah, okay Superman!" He replied good naturedly.

"Well, since you bastards woke me up, you gotta tell me a funny story so I can go back ta sleep." He said with a cheeky grin. "Preferably a Pony one."

"That rule only applied at home, and only when Pony woke you up, idiot." I said.

"Well hey now, don't get ya knickers in a twist. Pony ain't here!" He stated.

I looked over at Darry and he shrugged, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"Okay, but only one!"

"Woop!" Two-bit hollered.

"D'you want the one where he was 4 or the one where he was 15?" I asked.

"15, obviously." He replied, a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Okay, Darry, you didn't know about this! Promise you won't get angry?"

He sighed.

"Depends on how bad it is."

"Not telling then!" I said stubbornly.

"C'mon Darry! This happened 2 years ago, Pony is a big boy now." Two-bit said impatiently.

"Fine, but don't think I won't have something to say about it if it's bad." He said gruffly.

I grinned.

*FLASHBACK*

Steve and I had taken Pony to Buck's one Saturday in summer break.

We had been there for a few hours, chatting to Curly Shepard and playing pool.

I remember Curly teasing Pony because I wouldn't let him drink...Pony didn't mind though, he was pretty content with his Pepsi.

After a few more games of pool, Angela Shepard came and joined us.

"What're ya doing 'ere, Ang?" Curly asked.

Angela smirked at him and grabbed Pony's arm tightly. The look on Pony's face was hysterical, a mix between horror and embarrassment.

"Me and Pony here are gonna dance, gotta problem with that, Curls?"

Curly chuckled and waved her off and started talking to Steve.

Pony looked at me, 'Help me' was written all over his face. I smirked and shook my head.

"Have fun!" I called out, earning a glare from Pony in return.

"Kid's gonna bite your head off when we get home." Steve chuckled, enjoying the look of discomfort on Pony's face. "I think he likes that Cathy broad. Y'know, the one with the kid brother who had an acid trip?"

"Oh yeah! ..She's pretty cute." I replied.

"Yeah, I think she likes him too. Evie told me that Cathy's been asking around about him."

Well, of course. Who wouldn't like my kid brother? "Aww, she can be his first kiss!" I joked.

Steve grinned, he was looking over my shoulder.

"I don't think Cathy will be his first kiss, man." He replied.

I spun around and instantly cracked up laughing.

Angela had grabbed hold of Pony's face and was literally sticking her tongue down his throat.

Pony looked terrified; his eyes wide open in shock. He pulled away from her and turned a shade of red I had never seen before.

Then he turned an even brighter red when he saw that almost everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing to stare at them.

Pony walked away blushing when a chorus of 'Ooooo's' had erupted the room, Steve and I trailing behind trying to hold in our laughs.

"It wasn't funny!" Pony said moodily when he saw the looks on our faces.

"Yes kid, it was." Steve chuckled. "Maybe we should stop callin' ya kid now! Horseman."

That did it for me; I erupted into a fit of laughter which also set Steve off.

"I hate you both." Pony mumbled, a small grin spreading across his face.

"Love you too, little brother." I replied, slinging an arm over his shoulder.

"So, how was it?" Steve piped in, winking at Pony, making him blush again.

"I...I didn't like it." Pony said, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"What if Cathy kissed ya? You wouldn't mind that very much." Steve chuckled, Pony grimaced.

"How'd you know?" He said breathlessly.

"We didn't, but thanks for telling us!" Steve and I both cracked up again while Pony blushed.

"That was cruel." He said, moody again.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

"Why'd you never tell me about that?" Darry asked a little offended, but he was grinning.

"We didn't wanna get in trouble, and Pony was embarrassed!" I said defensively, giving a little chuckle.

Darry barked out a laugh. "Yeah, I bet he was."

"Oh man, I'm never gonna let the kid forget that. When I see him next, I'm gonna congratulate him! Angela Shepard is one hot broad." Two-bit smirked.

"Two, you're 5 and a half years older than her. That's disgusting." Darry stated.

"Yeah, so? Kathy was 3 years older than me." He said.

"That was different." I said.

"I don't see how." He argued.

I sighed. "It just is, Two-bit."

Darry seeing that this was going to turn into a huge argument joked, "Okay, break it up love birds."

I grinned at him while Two-bit glared at the ground, unhappy that his point wasn't going to be made.

"I wonder what the kid is doing now." Two-bit said instead of continuing the almost argument. I wouldn't of either, Darry can get mighty mean.

"Well he's either sitting, doing nothing like us or fighting." Darry said.

"Or, some of those entertainment girls are where he is and they're keeping him company," I joked, Darry laughed.

"Pony is scared of girls." He replied, sending me and Two-bit into a fit of laughter.

"Don't let him hear ya say that Dar, the kid will skin you." Two-bit laughed, gasping for air.

"Oh, I know."

Pony's POV

I could hug Marcus!

He agreed on letting Steve stay with us, saying he'll let the big tide know about it- hopefully they'll agree.

Marcus said they most likely would because their all too busy with bigger projects then to actually give a crap about one lone soldier. Steve took offence to that with a curt reply of 'The can kiss my ass', the spitting on the ground.

"This is great, Pone! We should write to Soda, Darry and Two. Let them know I'm here, ya dig?"

"I dig." I replied happily.

Before I could grab a piece of paper ad a pen from my bag, Eric came loping in, a grin on his face like always.

"What's up, Eric?"

"Mail, Curtis. Says it's urgent." He said, handing it to me.

On the front was Soda's handwriting.

"It's from Soda!" I smiled cheerfully.

Steve ripped it out of my hands, already impatient and read.

_Dear Ponyboy,  
Please don't feel guilty about anything, it ain't your fault little buddy. I have some bad news, Steve is missing, he didn't come back from collecting water. I really hope he's okay, maybe he's just lost or something. Anyway, be safe Pone. Darry, Two-bit and I love and miss you. See ya soon honey.  
-Sodapop Curtis._

"Aww, they're worried about me!" Steve joked.

"I don't see why." I mumbled back, earning an elbow to the ribs by Steve.

"Don't get mouthy." He said.

"Let's write back now then." I said, reaching for the pen and paper.

_Soda, Darry, Two-bit,  
You'll never believe who is with me now! ...Okay, I'll tell you. It's Steve! I saved his sorry butt from one of the big POV camps by the river. Marcus has given permission for him to stay with me. Y'all can have him back if you want, but let me tell you, it's great seeing a familiar face again, even if it is Steve. He says hey, by the way. I love you all, be safe!  
-Ponyboy Curtis_

I re-read the letter for spelling and grammar errors, and when I didn't find any, I stuck it in an envelope.

"I'm going to go put this on Marcus' desk." I said, looking at Steve.

"Wait a sec!" He interjected.

"Mmm?"

He grabbed the letter out of my hand and picked up the pen I left on the ground.

He handed it back after writing something on the front.

_URGENT!_

I grinned at him, fully aware that they would now get the letter within a day or two.

"Sneaky." I stated, impressed.

"Yeah, but what can they do?" He smirked.

"Kill ya." I joked, he rolled his eyes. "Be back in a sec!" I said, walking out into the hot air.

"Be careful!" He shouted after me.

Marcus' tent was only a few down from mine so it was impossible to get into any trouble.

I walked straight in, not bothering to ask or knock first, like always.

"Christ, Curtis, don't you ever knock? You don't know what I could be doing in 'ere." He lectured.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to know what you do in here, Marcus." I replied, sassily.

"Smartass." He muttered. I grinned, it was true.

"I gotta letter. Can you send it off tonight, please?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." He said, bored.

"You better! It's important!" I nearly yelled.

"Okay, okay, I'll do it now." He grumbled.

"Thanks!" I said brightly, a smug smile on my face.

I walked out after saying bye, and returned to my tent where Steve was waiting.

"All done?" He asked.

"Yep! He's gonna send it now." I said happily.

"Good, good!" He shared my enthusiasm.

"Where's Eric?"`

"Left about a minute ago." Steve replied.

"Curtis!" Eric came running into my tent. Speak of the devil.

"What?" I asked worriedly, expecting an ambush.

"Ralph's gone A-wall. He's beating on Marcus." And with that, all three of us were out of the tent and running towards what looked like a fist fight between Marcus and Ralph.

"Wow! Wow, calm down!" I yelled, trying to break up the fight.

"Piss off, Curtis." Ralph snapped harshly.

"What's ya problem?" I snapped back, balling my fists.

"He thinks he doesn't get enough action." Marcus said through clenched teeth.

"Why in the hell would you think that?" I said angrily.

"Because it's true! You, Warren and the kid getta do everything!" He spat.

And, do you think I enjoy it?" I cursed. "Grow the hell up, man."

"I'll grow up when I get stuff to do!"

"Fine! Next mission, you go on ahead and take lead. See how much you like it then you little shit." Marcus said hotly.

"Yeah, but don't come crying to us when you find it to be too much of a challenge for you." I added.

"You're just pissed you don't get to be the hero, like always." He said, smirking at me.

"I don't ever try and be a hero, asshole. Get the hell away from me before your face breaks my fist." I said, shaking with anger. That comment pissed me off.

He huffed, but walked away, not taking any chances.

"He's bloody crazy." I muttered to Steve.

"He needs a damn hospital. Not even I get that angry!" He replied, looking a little pissed.

"Cheers, Curtis." Marcus said, slapping my shoulder, "He woulda kicked my ass, good." He chuckled.

"No problem." I said flatly, still a little angry.

"Well, I got stuff to do, places to be." Marcus said, feeling the tension.

I nodded. Steve, Eric and I walked away.

"I'm hungry. Let's go get something to eat." Steve said, trying to distract me.

It worked. At the mention of food, my stomach growled, telling me I hadn't eaten all day.

"Yeah, me too." I said.

I followed Steve and Eric to the food tent, not yet realizing that trouble was on its way.

_**A/N- Thanks for reading! Sorry if it was boring blah blah, so on!  
Thanks for the reviews, favourites, follows, views..They make me happy :) If you have a request for the next chapter, don't hesitate to tell me :) And thanks to the people who have made requests!  
-Stay Gold ;)**_


	8. Chapter 7

_**A/N- Oh my gosh..Are you guys still there? Sorry this took over 3 months to post. I'm such a turd. School was just kicking my butt and I was very stuck on what I should write for this chapter. But it all worked out okay I hope :-) Just a warning: This chapter does involve rape. Oh wow, you guys are going to hate me! And I'd just like to thank all of the reviews/ favourites and follows. Especially the reviews telling me to hurry up! And also I'd like to thank 'Cirruz The Night Elf' on giving me some great ideas- You should go check out her stories! And sorry in advance for any spelling/grammar errors.  
Disclaimer- I DO NOT own The Outsiders, S.E Hinton does, and she is amazing.**_

Chapter seven

Pony's POV

After our small ration of burnt fish, Steve and I went to play cards with a couple of the guys.

"Yo Curtis, Randle." Raymond shouted happily when we walked into his tent.

"Quiet down, idiot." I hissed at him. He was drunk.

"Touchy." He chuckled loudly but shut up.

"Okay, what are we playing?" I asked.

"Go fish. None of these losers wanna give up their cigarettes." Raymond replied moodily.

"Just as well, I don't smoke." I muttered. Steve chuckled beside me. "What?" I asked, looking at him.

"You? Ponyboy Curtis, don't smoke?" He said, laughing in disbelief.

I looked at him with a serious expression etched into my features and he stared at me with his mouth agape.

"When in the hell did you quit smokin'?"

"When I was 15 Steven, so I'd make it back onto the track team." I stared at him accusingly, was I really the unimportant to him that he didn't realize that I quit smoking 2 years ago.

Jesus Christ.

He looked at me sheepishly. "Woops, guess I never payed much attention." I rolled my eyes and he took a sip of whiskey.

"Did'ja know I went out with Lucy Crowford for a month when I was 16?" His eyes widened, telling me that he had no idea.

"Well I thought you batted for the opposite team, Ponykid." He said innocently, gaining a few chuckles from the other boys who had decided to listen in on our conversation. My eyes widened.

I was about to shoot a smartass comment back when Raymond cut me off.

"Okay, hush. You obviously want Curtis, Randle."

I sat and gawked at Raymond, unable to comprehend what just said. But when I did I was disgusted.

The next thing I know, Steve's face was just inches away from mine.

"What the he..." I was cut off by Steve's mouth pressing against mine causing my eyes to pop out of my head. His lips tasted strongly of alcohol.

That explains why he was kissing me.

I pulled away with a fast jerk and glared at him.

"Man?" I asked simply.

"Sorry, not sorry." He grinned. "And I ain't even drunk."

"Yeah, okay buddy." I rolled my eyes, still shocked.

I looked around and saw the other boys looking at us in either disgust or amusement.

"A picture would last longer." I muttered, turning a bright shade of red.

With that, I pulled Steve up and walked to the tents exit.

"Gonna go make out some more, are we?" Raymond laughed. I shrugged, an innocent expression on my face.

I heard them all fox whistling as Steve and I walked back to our shared tent.

When we entered the comfort of our tent I turned on Steve.

"What was that, man?" I growled.

"Entertainment." He stated with a smirk. I rolled my eyes at him. "C'mon, it's the only action they've seen in months. They probably enjoyed watching it too." He chuckled while I shuddered.

"That's disgusting, Steve. Anyone else and it would've been fine."

"It won't happen again. I promise." He replied, holding out his pinky to show that he was serious. I grabbed his pinky with mine then quickly pulled away when I noticed how childish it was.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. It was getting late.

"We should try and get some rest. I have a bad feeling about tomorrow." I said tiredly.

He scrunched his face up in distaste. "That's a cheerful feeling to have. Now I won't be able to sleep."

"Just try." I mutter.

"Fine, whatever you say boss." And with that, he fell down onto his rock hard pillow with a thud, falling asleep instantly.

Despite me needing sleep, I stayed awake for an hour or so. I was starting to feel a little nauseous.

I sighed and rolled onto my stomach, making the dull ache turn into a sharp pain.

I groaned.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx

I woke up a few hours later, the sharp pain in my stomach was gone but it was replaced by the dull ache again. Great.

"G'morning sleepyhead." Steve's voice came from beside me. I groaned.

"Piss off." My voice was muffled by the pillow that had somehow managed to be over my head. I sounded exhausted.

"You alright, buddy?" Steve asked worriedly. That was flattering.

"Yeah, just think I'm coming down with something. Don't worry about it." I groaned again.

Man, my stomach was starting to kill.

I heard the shuffling of feet and then felt Steve's hand pressing against my neck.

"Shit, you're burning up Pone." Now he sounded really worried.

"It's nothing Steve, probably just ate something off."

"That, or your appendix has exploded and you're gonna die from blood poisoning or you've got canc.." I chuckled, cutting him off.

"Shut up Steve, don't worry too much about me, I'm a big boy."

"You'd like to think that, kid." He replied sarcastically.

"I do think that." I muttered under by breath.

Surely after being here for months he'd consider me an adult... Even though I'm only 17.

He sighed.

"Okay, get up Horseman, it's 5am."

I ripped the pillow off my face and looked at him pulling his military jacket on.

I grumbled and sat up, rubbing at my eyes in an attempt to wake up fully.

"GET UP! GET UP NOW!" I jolted up onto my feet and sprinted outside, Steve right on my heels.

"What the hell is going on?" Ralph shouted at no one in particular.

"I've got no idea" I shouted back.

Eric came running up to me breathlessly. "'Nam troop a few hours away. We gotta pack everything up and head out now." Shit.

I grabbed Steve's arm and we ran back to our tent, grabbing all of our belongings, and then raced to where Marcus was giving orders.

"What're we doin', boss?" I shouted over all the chaos.

"Getting the bloody hell out of 'ere fast." He replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Are we going to leave camp here?"

"Nah, we got some time to pack most of it up. If we leave anything behind it won't be replaced. The government is sort of low on resources at the moment." He stated sourly.

"Perfect." I replied sarcastically.

I grabbed Steve by the arm again and we raced around, helping people pack stuff up.

A little while later I looked down at my watch and cursed.

"What is it?" Eric asked from beside me.

"We've been packing for a frigin' hour." I said a little panicky.

Steve swore and hurried off, most likely telling Marcus that we had to leave.

"Okay, time to go. Quickly make you way over..." I was cut off by guns firing.

Startled yelps and cusses were heard, than chaos broke loose.

Bullets flew over our heads in every direction- We'd been ambushed.

I drop down onto my hands and knees, trying to get as far away as possible from the bullets being fired.

"Steve?" I shouted. Where the hell are you? I thought.

I looked around and saw people from my troop dropping like flies, but the one that got to me the most was when I saw Billy hit the ground, already dead.

He was only 16! Johnny's age. Too young to be in a place like this, like most of us. But he was the youngest in the troop, the little brother.

Rage shoots through me and before I know it, I'm on my feet again. I was going to find the bastard that killed him.

I don't use my head.

I was hit on the side of the head hard by an unknown force and I gladly fell into the blackness.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx

Steve's POV

I looked around at the destruction before me.

The Vietnamese soldiers left just as quickly as they came.

I looked around at the remaining soldiers in my troop but didn't see Ponyboy anywhere.

I panicked.

I started searching for him amongst the dead, some of the men were unrecognisable.

"Steve," I swivelled around and was face to face with Eric, "They took him, Steve." His voice was dead and his eyes were empty.

"What d'ya mean 'They took him'?" I asked dangerously.

He backed away from me, clearly seeing the anger on my face. I know what he meant, but I didn't want to believe it.

He sucked in a sharp breath. "The Vietnamese soldiers took Ponyboy."

I started seeing red, that damn kid was my responsibility!

"Let's go get him back then." I spoke calmly but on the inside I was about to explode. The only reason I didn't was because it wasn't Eric's fault.

"Are you nuts?" Ralph shrieked. "He's just one boy, get over it!" I exploded.

I walked up to Ralph and belted him so hard I knocked a tooth loose.

"Just a boy, huh? To you maybe, but to me he is family and I ain't givin' up on 'im. Ya hear?" Everyone nodded but Ralph.

"He's probably already dead. He's probably already pissed them off with his smartass comments and they've shot him. If you go looking for him, you'll only find a corpse." Ralph spat, clutching his mouth and nose.

"You'll be a corpse if you don't shut the hell up." I warned.

I was angry at him because he was right. I might not like what I find if I go looking. But I will go look anyway.

"C'mon let's go." I started walking off, not caring if nobody followed.

"Crazy bastard." I heard Ralph mutter under his breath.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Everyone ended up following me much to my dismay.

The only people I wanted around were Eric and Marcus but I guess the others wouldn't be completely useless.

"D'ya know where ya goin'?" Raymond called from the end of the group.

"Nope." I replied simply, receiving 5 groans from the others.

"Y'all didn't haveta come." I reminded them.

That shut 'em up.

We all trekked through the jungle for a couple of hours but there was no sign of anyone else or a POW camp.

"Maybe we should get some rest." Marcus muttered. I sighed, only agreeing because I was exhausted.

I had a feeling we'd be searching for my brother for a while.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Pony's POV

When I came to, I could tell that I wasn't where I was supposed to be.

I went to rub my eyes and found that they were bound together.

I looked around, trying to figure out where I was and to get my bearings, but it was no use. It was pitch black.

I think it was okay for me to start panicking.

I yelled and thrashed around, trying to yank the cuffs off my wrists.

There was a loud bang somewhere close by and I froze.

A door in front of me slowly started to open, allowing light to seep through.

I was in a tiny dirt cell. The floor was muddy and the walls and roof looked like they could cave in at any moment. I was terrified.

I didn't see it coming. I was hit across the face so hard I let out a cry of protest. It received a gleeful chuckle and a sentence spoken in another language.

I knew that language well. I'm so dead.

The Vietnamese soldier hit me hard across the face again.

I stayed silent, knowing that what he wanted was to hear my pain.

I glared at him. "You son of a bitch!" I spat.

He chuckled again. "You be nice." He replied in broken English, "Or I do worse."

I didn't answer, not wanting him to act out his bluff. That only pissed him off.

He hit me hard across the face again and I felt blood trickle down my chin and onto my shirt collar.

I spat the blood in my mouth at the guys face and gave him a smirk. He wiped it off and gave me an evil glare.

He shouted something in Vietnamese. "You should no do that, boy." He hissed, but at the same time had an evil smirk on his face.

He got up and left, leaving me panicking in the corner of my cell. I didn't feel to brave anymore.

For the next few minutes I tried to pick at the cuffs on my wrists but was unsuccessful. They are bound to tight.

This camp must've been a more advanced one. Normally the locks would fall apart with a simple yank.

"Crap." I swore, giving up.

'_Mum, if you're listening, I sort of need your help. I know you won't be able to do much but just look out for me and keep me alive. I love you. _I knew praying wouldn't do much good, but I could only try. I had to stay alive for Soda and Darry, Steve and Two-bit. They'd be heartbroken if I died this way.

The sound of footsteps pulled me out of my thoughts.

A different man was grinning down at me. "Piss off!" I yelled, absolutely terrified by his grin.

He hushed me and came and kneeled in front of me. He started rubbing his hand up and down my leg, making me feel uncomfortable.

It only got worse from there; he kissed my mouth then kissed a trail down my neck. When he reached my collarbone he started to strip me of my military uniform, leaving me clad in only my boxers.

At that moment, I knew what was going to happen and I knew I wasn't going to be able to stop it. So I screamed bloody murder.

"GET OFF OF ME!" I screeched, trying my hardest to get loose of his firm grip.

He laughed. "You very pretty boy." And with that, he took off my final piece of clothing.

I started crying. I never thought that this would happen to me.

The monster started to kiss my neck again.

"Soda! Darry!" I screamed, a hopeless attempt. Tears were falling from my eyes like a waterfall.

The rest was a blur. All I remember is giving up on fighting and going limp, and then the pain that caused me to scream.

The pain was too much to handle so I fell unconscious, again thankful for the blackness that consumes me.

_**A/N- I'm a horrible person! Poor Pony. Sorry if this chapter triggers or offends anyone. That was not my intention. I hope you enjoyed! I will not make you wait 3 months for chapter 8! :-)  
And please give me ideas for the next chapter, it would be a great help! I'd also like to say that Supernatural has completely taken over my life. I the 3 months that I didn't post, I watched all 8 seasons! Hahaha. I suggest you watch it! :-)  
-Stay Gold Bitches ;) **_


End file.
